The Book Censor's Library (original) (raw)
1,309 reviews10.7k followers
In this clever modernization of classics such as 1984 and Fahrenheit 451, a censor charged with reading and determining the acceptability of certain books under the totalitarian regime within which he resides falls in love with reading one fateful day and is set on a course of life-altering, eye-opening adventure.
Not only does this book pay homage to its predecessors, it sneakily intertwines particular elements from some other classic tales in a way that is both endearing and surprising. As the book censor 'falls down the rabbit hole' he uncovers the truth at the center of his world that shatters everything he knows or thinks he knows, just like a good book reveals something latent within the reader.
I had such a fun time reading this. It was like reading a classic children's adventure story with the profundity and timeliness of a story about book banning and the importance of imagination. I was constantly delighted by the turns the story took and particularly impressed by the ending. While a few moments throughout felt a bit repetitive, the story ultimately won me over with its satire and charm. Plus who doesn't love a book about books?!
714 reviews3,927 followers
Want to read
In which a book censor's dreams are crowded with literary characters and pilfered novels pile up in his house. "As the siren song of forbidden reading continues to beckon, he descends into a netherworld of resistance fighters, undercover booksellers, and outlaw librarians trying to save their history and culture." Sounds incredible.
adult fiction translated-literature
Author 55 books288 followers
The Book Censor's Library was a riveting tale that was part homage to books and reading and part social commentary of the horrors of authoritarianism. Full of literary references, it's a treasure trove of Easter eggs for those keen to spot every mention and every metaphor. But it was also a captivating story as we follow the book censor through his journey uncovering the delights and dangers (at least in his world) of literature. I was definitely absorbed in the plot from start to finish, though I'd warn that the ending might seem a little bleak. This is a work at times comic but at times deadly serious, and I think the author married that combination well. I would definitely read more works from Bothayna Al-Essa in the future. I am giving this book 4.5 stars.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
557 reviews763 followers
"๐๐ญ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ถ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ง๐ข๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ, ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ต๐ต๐ฐ๐ฎ, ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข ๐ณ๐ช๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฅ โ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ฎ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐น๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ." ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ช๐ฆ๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ: "๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ณ๐ช๐ฅ๐ช๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ข๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ."
There is a reason why we read and thereโs a reason why we live. Censoring a story is erasing our experiences tied to people and emotions. Without a story, our choices formed towards our moralities cease to exist.
With nods of 1984 and If on a Winterโs Night a Traveler through YA prose, we swiftly move through the love of language and the love for stories. What we keep sacred to us and what is hidden in our peripheries.
The world building is imaginative and draws you in, but the last act falls short with its cop-out plot choice.
Perfect for any young reader before they begin their high school lit trek into Farenheit 451.
684 reviews85 followers
4.75/5
A timely story about book banning, the power of imagination, and the importance of collective memory. The writing is very easy to read coupled with a fast-paced plot-driven quality. I devoured this and loved it!
646 reviews174 followers
This has almost broken my reader heart.
367 reviews7 followers
[3.75; Received ARC from LibraryThing in return for a candid review.] Few topics ignite as much discussion in my college media literacy class as book bans and other forms of censorship. Al-Essaโs clever and unique tale of a dystopian world resembling Orwellโs prescient Big Brother society is as timely as it is intriguing. Readers who relish books about books will devour this tale that weaves in (albeit not always seamlessly) tidbits from classics such as โAlice in Wonderland,โ โZorba the Greekโ and โ of course โ โ1984.โ For as innovative and twist-filled as the narrative was, there was something about much of the dialogue that didnโt quite work for me. I wonder if it might involve the translation of Al-Essaโs work from Arabic to English. Having said that, โThe Book Censorโs Libraryโ is a delightfully original and alarming spin on the perils of authoritarianism.
authoritarianism books-about-books censorship
197 reviews36 followers
Read
Probably would have been a fun companion to The Giver and 1984 in middle school but the plot turned cookie cutter, the dystopia never really filled out much more than just the basics, and the characters only dabbled beyond one dimensional. Fun short story stretched thin. Great doodles!
32 reviews
SO good. This is a Fahrenheit 451 retelling if it had a personality and was not written by a depressed white man. Because for some reason it is so hard for them to write complex characters AND a complex society. Anyways, this is a quick read which I think kept the pacing very consistent and interesting. Ms. Al-Essa did her thing with this for real, it was so cool to see the writing progression as our narrator has more exposure to literature. I would recommend to anyone looking for a dystopian read that isnโt too existential but still makes you think critically (but itโs still sad (yes I cried) just fair warning).
559 reviews8 followers
Book #59 in my reading around the world project: Kuwait
This is a clever novel about a country - modeled on Kuwait - where the government is so determined to quash all elements that existed before the revolution that they censor any book that shows imagination. Likewise, individuals who are imaginative are sent to rehabilitation camps. The main character begins his job as a book censor, but then gets caught up in the resistance movement (the cancers) because he falls in love with Zorba the Greek as a novel. TBCL is a clever allegory of government repression and the impossibility of suppressing imagination, especially when people dream of a different reality than the one they live in.
books-from-every-country books-in-translation dystopian
23 reviews1 follower
I loved this book! Such a fascinating blend of Orwellโs 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Alice in Wonderland, and so many more! Felt very relevant while still reaching into the obscure and magical elements of literature. The illustrations were beautiful as well. Overall a great read!
206 reviews8 followers
4.5. Fahrenheit 451 by way of Alice in Wonderland, this gorgeously written and deftly translated novel is a fantastic love letter (no pun intended) to the power of stories and storytelling. More surreal, madcap dystopian novels, please.
1,224 reviews90 followers
There is a lot in this book that is phenomenal though quite familiar, and there is also a good chunk of book that becomes repetitive rendition of an existing work, set to a different cultural context.
Heavily influenced by Fahrenheit 451 and 1984, the novel is set in a dystopian state where books and words are heavily censored. Censors are advised to skim through the books and look at language (only) because any peek deeper, would be chaotic. Its a censor's journey that the novel follows as the progression of his mental state aligns with some of the popular works in the west from past century. Be it Metamorphosis or Alice in Wonderland, the nature of text, subtext and textual interpretation of imagination is what Al-Essa laments of being lost in her world. As its evident in the book itself, imagination cease to exist in books and being thwarted in minds of people. Possibly the entire point of Pinocchio is missed as at surface level its a simplistic story but a far deeper interpretation of the text can be made.
As there is suppressed voices that are furious about restricted speech, Al-Essa digs deeper into the issue and expands on censorship of opinions, imagination and language.
2024 literary-fiction translated
96 reviews
Iโve been trying to find a way to communicate how well executed this book is. Fahrenheit 451, 1984, Alice in Wonderland, Pinocchio, Zorba the Great and endless childhood fairytales were crucial and so well integrated into the development of the Censorโs trajectory and the overall unraveling of the plot. In some ways, it terrifyingly rings similar to media politics today and I think this should be added to everyoneโs โTo Be Readโ list ASAP!
1,637 reviews221 followers
More like 3.5 stars.
Very prescient with what is going on in the USA right now, especially interesting to me as a retired librarian.
In a future dystopian country, an unnamed young man [in fact all characters are unnamed] begins work as a book censor, which involves reading text to discover anything that goes against the government's standards, in order to ban or to preserve books. He finds out that the many bookshelves in the Director's office contain banned books, which are considered as "trophies" such as animal heads [illustration follows]. He finds out the Director is just as seduced by books as he is. He has read the novel about Zorba the Greek and is captivated. It seems that imagination is taboo, which Alice in Wonderland has in spades.
His monkey-daughter has a great imagination and makes friends with the Secretary of her dad's department, who has clandestine copies of children's books and hopes one day the censor will be in charge of the library, which he wishes to preserve. The young censor hooks up with the Resistance [called Cancers] against destruction of books. Can the censor-turned-reader subvert the government system to save banned books from being burned on what is called "Purification Day"? Very original subject and a thinking person's book. Somewhat like Orwell's 1984 in tone.
3 reviews
This ending left me so speechless Iโm just staring at a wall thinking about it. So many different layers of consciousness and questions about agency woven together and all made visible at the endโฆ
430 reviews1 follower
I book I enjoyed, but didnโt love. I think I liked the cover more than the story. It was an interesting take on a dystopian, all controlling, government and what they believe is truly dangerous. When the law bans metaphors in the society you are reading about, but the whole story seems to be a metaphor, it can be a bit much.
7 reviews2 followers
The Book Censorโs Library by Bothayna Al-Essa. I loved this little bookโa dystopian story of an admittedly Orwellian society that systematically wipes out imagination, metaphor, interpretation, and meaning by censorship. It focuses on a book censor who makes the mistakeโcommits the crimeโof reading the books he censors and falling in love with stories. This changes his life and puts him in the resistance. I donโt want to say more about the story except to say that it is part thriller, part magical realism, part political parable. The author is Kuwaiti and quite prolific although this is only her third novel to appear in English. (As a huge Alice in Wonderland fan, I loved the many Alice references!) Highly recommend!
189 reviews
That was wonderful. Thought-provoking and possibly prescient. I was hooked from the first, "The events of this story happen sometime in the future, in a place that would be pointless to name, since it resembles every other place."
And it's true. This book seems eerily possible. It calls back to other classics of the authoritarian dystopia genre, but it feels much more present. Amazing work, I hope it wins the National Book Award for its category.
53 reviews1 follower
CHILLS i hope this wins the national book award (currently a finalist)
451 reviews
I was completely absorbed in this book that was kind of everything from dystopian to fairytale to fable. I emerged with a renewed sense of reverence for the gift and power of imagination.
634 reviews12 followers
Three and a half stars. Crisp writing, character development and plot comparable to Haruki Murakami, but just a tiny bit darker. In spite of the small number of named characters, I found myself losing track of who was who, and which side was motivated by what. Very entertaining, so glad I was able to get this ARC from Edelweiss and Restless Books. And before I forget, this was expertly translated - I all but did a double-take when glancing at the author's name to see "translated by". Very nice work.
674 reviews6 followers
A mix of dystopian setting, philosophical themes and a metanarrative setup, to lead the reader into exploring the essence of reading, what dragged this down was the somewhat repetitive and draggy developments in act two of the book, otherwise a rewarding reading experience as a whole. 3 ยฝ stars rating rounded up.
Bothayna Al-Essa opens the book by telling us โthe events of this story happen sometime in the future, in a place that would be pointless to name, since it resembles every other place.โ That swirled through my mind throughout my reading because in truth, there were so many places I could see falling to this type of future.
Absolutely brilliant, terrifying, beautiful story that will stay in my mind for years to come.
Thank you to Ranya Abdelrahman and Sawad Hussain for translating this extraordinary book into English.
187 reviews4 followers
women in tranSlation pick 6..books about books ๐ excellent dystopian speculative fictionโฆmelancholy but hopefully..there is nothing like the pleasure of losing yourself in a story or your imagination! highly relevant with all the book banning and such in the world today..i loved how iconic literature was incorporated and the meta twist at the end was gaggy
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
44 reviews
A modern day, dystopian Alice in Wonderland, where reading, thinking, imagination, and autonomy in general is illegal. A terrifying story of authoritarianism told magnificently. I was not expecting that ending.
My personal interpretation: we desperately need to organize but simply have no idea how.
Bonus: lots of rabbits
This is a clever and creative tale of a future world order in which books (and many other things) are routinely banned for "faults" such as encouraging imagination or challenging the existing structure of society. Interesting and chilling reading...